Well I was planning on writing my first "Recliner QB Book Review" today, but since I cannot find the book right now (stupid painkillers make me forget where I put things, but they also make me feel really good so I can't complain to much) to review some of my notes and key points, I have decided to switch gears.
Right now there is a lot of talk about the Panthers taking Cam Newton #1, the first notice I saw of it was a tweet by @EvanSilva saying that this is the weekend that everybody moves Cam Newton to the top of their mock drafts. Me....I just don't get it. As I have previously stated in my other posts, why make him (or any QB in this draft) the #1 pick and the highest paid QB in league history IF there are questions (and their are big questions on all the QB's out there). Why potentially set your franchise back 5+ years? Yes, I understand that he could be a "one-in-a-generation" player, but you have to weigh the risk vs reward here. While many so called "draft experts" label Cam as a better, more accurate, slightly more athletic Vince Young (I think they only make that comparison because people seem to compare all black QB's to each other and all white RB's to each other) I see him as a more athletic Ben Roethlisberger. They are both big and hard to bring down, can make throws on the run, with the big difference is Roethlisberger was considered a solid drop back passer while Cam is not. For me, the biggest knocks on Cam are his ability to read defenses and call appropriate audibles, master the NFL playbook, go through his progressions, and seeing the whole field. Those are fairly big on field concerns for a guy being labeled as a potential top 10 pick; much less a #1 overall pick.
Now onto the other concerns I have about the kid. We all know about his dad trying to sell him to the highest bidder, while that may not necessarily reflect poorly on Cam, the fact that his dad is the leader of his entourage and seemingly involved in every single decision he makes is troubling. How many people are going to have influence over him at the next level, influence that will take precedence over what his coaches, teammates, and trainers say? That is what truly concerns me, that he will bring his own "support system" with him and not rely on the ones that the NFL can provide that have been proven to work, with all the controversy surrounding him throughout his college career it is obvious his current "support system" has failed miserably. Many people bring up his time at Florida as a "red flag" on his college career, but me, I am not holding that against him. I think that we all make numerous mistakes between the ages of 16-20. I know I did, the main difference between Cam Newton and myself (along with thousands of other teenagers) is that because he was in the spotlight his mistakes were highlighted, amplified, and he got caught. I know that if I had gotten caught in hundreds of the stuff I did, I would have been labeled as a "bad, troubled, horrible kid". Luckily for me I outgrew those younger testosterone, bulletproof days; and have grown into a respectable (at least in my opinion) and productive member of society. I would have hated to see how bad I would have acted at his age if I would have had everything handed to me on a silver platter, been told that I was untouchable, the next "big" thing in a major college sports program.
So really, Cam Newton has huge potential upside at the next level, but he also has some of the biggest risks associated with any QB or really any draft prospect also. Do I think that he deserves to fall to the middle rounds, no. Do I think that his potential is worthy of a top 15 pick, no (this isn't the NBA, even though I feel some teams draft like it is). I think that any team considering him needs to heavily evaluate not only Cam's years at Blinn Junior College, but also his year at Auburn, and do not look to far back because we all made mistakes at a young age, lets not hold his teenage years against him, we all made stupid mistakes. In fact, lets take this time to not "pigeon hole" anybody that you know (kid, friend, employee, student, young adult, niece nephew, grandchild, yourself, etc) because of mistakes that they may have made when they were younger (or are making now), as a society we should strive to give everybody the same 2nd chances that we give athletes (i.e. Donte Stallworth, Michael Vick, Leonard Little, Ben Roethlisberger, etc). And most importantly Cam needs to be evaluated on what he has done on the field, and how dedicated will he be to fix his flaws and not try to rely on his God given athletic skills only at the NFL level.
FYI I think that teams that should be looking at him are teams that have a QB for the next 1-2 years and have time to develop him (of course stashing a 1st round pick on your roster for 1-3 years goes against the potential short term 1st round contracts I talked about in an earlier post on rookie wage scale)
Teams that initially come to mind are: Cincinnati Bengals (if Carson Palmer can be talked into coming back for 1 or more years), Seattle Seahawks (if Matt Hasselback is resigned), Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins. But with those teams you need to have a good veteran QB for him to learn from, a solid coaching staff, and a good steady front office (so that obviously that nixes a few of the teams I have listed).
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